Ole Fashioned Doughnuts
I am reposting this yummy recipe and blog, because this time of the year is perfect for going back to family recipes!
I do remember eating them during the holidays! Mostly they were covered in powdered sugar, and they were dry. But not always! Sometimes, when my grand-maman made them, they were just perfect, or was it an aunt? Mmmmm.
When my children were young, I bought the Laura Secord Canadian Cook Book, 1966, this one being a 1989 reprint. You can imagine, the recipes in this book are the recipes of our mothers, aunts and grand-mothers. There are several recipes I still made all the time from this book, it has gotten a lot of use.
One of the recipes are the old-fashioned doughnuts, I have made some minor changes to the recipe however, as we are using different ingredients, oftentimes, better too.
For instance, I have replaced the melted lard with melted butter, I never ever use margarine, I do not consider it to be food. :(
These doughnuts are crazy popular with the men and children, I often make them for the days the men, young men and girls work hard at our yearly woodcutting, it is a few days hard work and the doughnuts are a welcomed snack after the day is done. Since it seems I use more wood than others, it is sort of a bribe to keep them going! These doughnuts do freeze well, place them in freezer bags and thaw out when needed, warm slightly in an oven or microwave (cringe) and serve! Because they do freeze so well, they are a good last minute solution to unexpected guests during the holidays.
They also make for a great food gift. So keep them in mind!
I have several tricks to making them that are not in the original recipe, but in time, those tricks served me well, so pay attention.
I strongly suggest using a fryer to keep the temperature of the oil steady, but if you are adept with another method, don’t let not having a fryer keep you from making them.
Let’s get going!
OLE FASHIONED DOUGHNUTS My Way
Makes 6 dozens
INSTRUCTIONS:
Place in large bowl and beat:
½ c. melted butter
2 c. sugar
Blend in:
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
Sift or blend together:
9 c. all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. *nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
Stir dry ingredients into sugar mixture alternately with:
3 c. buttermilk or whey (Or sour milk, but that is simply not as good)
Chill dough for a few hours or a full day.
*Heat your oil of choice to 365° F.
Divide dough in 8 equal parts. Roll out each portion 1/3-inch-thick on a lightly floured surface, add as much flour you need to keep the dough from sticking. Cut with a floured doughnut cutter and set the uncooked doughnuts aside, let them rest 5 minutes before cooking.
Note the image on the right, the doughnut on the left has nearly doubled in size, it is ready to go into the fryer!
Re-use the dough from the cut outs with fresh dough as to keep a nice consistency to the dough throughout the cutting process.
Carefully place the uncooked doughnuts in hot oil and be careful not to crowd, cook no more than 2 minutes on each side. You want them golden brown, not dark brown, though, those will get eaten also, so no stress!
Having an assistant works really well at this point, one rolls and cuts, the other cooks and sugars.
Remove doughnuts from pan or fryer and set on paper towels.
While the doughnuts are still warm, dunk in a mixture of:
2 c. white sugar
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
Set aside and hide from family till you want them served.
I keep most of the centers and cook them all together as my last batch, small kids love those, and so do adults!
Note: I let the freshly cut uncooked doughnuts rest as this permits the dough to rise before they are placed in the hot oil, I find doing this gives me a better result.
*I like to use canola oil for deep frying, no particular reason except it is inexpensive and works well. I stay away from any fat/oil that would burn easily.
*As you can see in one of the images, I am using freshly grated nutmeg, but already powdered nutmeg is fine also.
Enjoy making them and those around you will enjoy munching through all of them!
